


The Universe; Defined

by ReidImmortals



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 03, Alternate Season/Series 04, Bad Wolf Rose Tyler, Dimension-Hopping Rose, Donna Noble Fix-It, F/M, I Blame Tumblr, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Jack Harkness Flirts, Meddling TARDIS, Multi, Parents Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Post-Episode: s02e13 Doomsday, Pregnant Rose Tyler, Protective Jack Harkness, Sentient TARDIS, TARDIS Rooms, Temporary Character Death - Jack Harkness, Tenth Doctor Angst, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler Reunion, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Doctor (Doctor Who) Needs a Hug, The Doctor (Doctor Who) is a Dork, Time Lord Rose Tyler, Time Shenanigans, Time Skips, Time Travel, Timeline Shenanigans, Timeline What Timeline, i dont think im sorry though, the doctor would greatly disapprove if he knew what his Rose was up to, these tags are a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-02-07 06:53:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18615406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReidImmortals/pseuds/ReidImmortals
Summary: “Since you didn’t bother to ask, this baby here, the one inside me, is yours.” He startled and his eyes widened. His mouth opened and then closed, and she had the distant thought that he looked like a fish out of water.“What?” Eloquent. She rolled her eyes.“Yours, you daft alien. The only man I have ever truly loved and the only man I ever will love. The only man I’d want to have this child with. You have to know that ever since that first time it's only ever been you.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First, I obviously don’t own any of these characters or recognizable events. They belong to the BBC. 
> 
> Secondly, I have taken creative liberty with everything I’m writing. Some stuff may not match the original DW at all. Like the Torchwood characters. I have never seen Torchwood, so the characters are based off my knowledge of them from the brief times they show up in Doctor Who.
> 
> This will be a re write of DW but with a lot of things changed. The beginning is AU for sure but once we get into the swing of things it’ll be a little closer to the original script. Bare with me.
> 
> Also, science type stuff is most likely going to be made up. Do I know science stuff? Not really.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

“Where are you?” She asked the ghostly image of her beloved. 

“Inside the TARDIS. There’s one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close, and it takes a lot of power to send this projection. I’m in orbit around a supernova. I’m burning up a sun just to say goodbye.” His smile is faint, and holds pain behind it. Rose felt her heart stutter. He was burning a _ sun  _ to say goodbye to her. Her! Rose Tyler, of all people. The shop girl from Powell Estates with nothing promising in her future. Except now her future consisted of living with the crippling pain of never being able to see the Doctor again. She almost broke down right then and there at that thought. He would never know about- no she mustn't think about that now.

“You look like a ghost.”

“Hold on.” she watched as he raised the sonic and pointed it somewhere in the TARDIS control room. Then his image wasn't ghostly anymore and the Doctor was standing in front of her. His hair even blew in the salt filled breeze from the bay.  She reached her hand out slowly, hesitantly.

“Can I?” His eyes held deep sorrow when he responded.

“I’m still just an image. No touch.” She couldn’t hug him one last time. Couldn’t kiss him ever again. Couldn’t feel the defined muscle hidden beneath his soft skin. She wouldn’t ever be able to feel his cold hand in hers, his stubble on her cheeks when they kissed. She could never run her hands through those unruly brown locks. She would never again be able to feel  _ him. _

“Can’t you come through properly?” The tears were starting to build in her eyes, she couldn’t let them fall yet, though. She couldn’t cry in front of the Doctor yet until she could tell him the news. She wouldn’t last another second on this damned beach if she started crying now.

“The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse.” Looking at Rose Tyler, the Doctor felt nothing but love and crippling sadness in his hearts. He loved this woman, the first in a very very long time. Now she was going to be stuck in another world for the rest of their lives. He could do nothing about it for risk of the two universes. Oh but he wanted to. His Rose was worth burning up a sun to say goodbye and she was worth destroying worlds to get her back. His brave Rose.

“So?” There she was. That was his Rose. He laughed despite himself. This was his Rose through and through. He felt that sentiment as well. So what if two worlds would collapse? There were plenty other universes out there for them to live in. Together. But he knew that couldn’t happen. It would destroy everything to do that. She stared at him and he knew she was waiting for an answer from him but he just couldn’t. He couldn’t say those final words again. He looked around at the beach they were on.

“Where are we? Where did the gap come out?”

“We’re in Norway.” He nodded. Norway was a beautiful country.

“Norway. Right.”

“About fifty miles out of Bergen. It’s called Dårlig Ulv-Stranden.” His eyes widened in alarm.

“Dalek?”

“Dårlig. It’s Norwegian for bad.” She paused and he just watched her for a moment.

“This translates as Bad Wolf Bay.” He laughed at the coincidence. Of course it would be Bad Wolf Bay. Bad Wolf had been created by Rose to protect him, save him, and right now he could use a little saving from himself.

“How long have we got?” Rose choked on her tears as the question came out and his eyes soften. She could hardly look at him because all she was thinking about was that he was going to say a number and it wasn’t going to be enough.

“About two minutes.”

“I can’t think of what to say.” She smiled at the irony. Normally neither of them could shut their gobs, and now neither of them could speak a single word. The Doctor laughed and she lit up to hear that sound again. His eyes drift behind her and she knew he saw her mum and dad behind her along with Mickey.

“You’ve still got Mister Mickey, then?” He’s trying to cheer her up, tell her it’s okay to move on from him. But it would never happen. She had loved Mickey, once upon a time, but now she could only focus on one man. Or alien, she mused. And there was no better time than now to finally tell him, she supposed.

“There’s five of us now. Mum, Dad, Mickey and the baby.” Rose watched hope bloom in his eyes but be quickly stamped out by his cynicism.

“You’re not?” His voice was barely above a whisper, not daring to let hope colour his words. Tears welled up in Rose’s eyes and her lips pulled up in a tiny smile.

“I’m three months gone now. More Tylers on the way.” Hope flared in his eyes again and he was no longer the Doctor, the man who had saved the universe countless times over but in his place, a younger man, who hoped that he might no longer be the last of his species. She loved that look in his eyes. The one that said he would do anything for her, love her for as long as she asked. 

“I’m happy for you, Rose. What are you going to do now?” She quickly masked the frown on her face. She should have known he wouldn’t ask. He was too stubborn with his hearts. Too guarded of his fragile hope.

“I’m back working in the shop.”

“Oh, good for you.” He nodded but she could see the little flicker of unhappiness.

“Shut up. No, i’m not. There’s still a Torchwood on this planet. It’s open for business. I think I know a thing or two about aliens.”

“Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth.” She couldn’t help the tears that started to fall. Even now, through a rift in two universes, she could feel his pride in her. His love and protectiveness and everything that made him  _ her _ Doctor. 

“You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead. Here you are, living a life day after day. The one adventure I can never have.” She could see the agony in his eyes at those words. Knew how much it cost him to admit it. Except that he  _ could _ have that adventure. If only she could get back to him. He could live the day to day life with her. Not on Earth, not a normal day to day. She knew he could never do that. But he could live everyday in the TARDIS with her and the baby.  _ His _ baby. Rose watched him for a moment, then shifted and pulled something out of her pocket. She unfolded it and turned the picture around so the Doctor could see it. Tears made an appearance in his eyes when he saw the little baby that was growing inside his precious pink and yellow human.

“Since you didn’t bother to ask, this baby here, the one inside me, is yours.” He startled and his eyes widened. His mouth opened and then closed, and she had the distant thought that he looked like a fish out of water.

“What?” Eloquent. She rolled her eyes.

“Yours, you daft alien. The only man I have ever truly loved and the only man I ever will love. The only man I’d want to have this child with. You have to know that ever since that first time it's only ever been you.” He smiled faintly and shook his head. She could see the tears shining in his eyes but couldn’t tell if he was happy about this or not. It terrified her to think that he might not be happy. He had told her not long ago that he had been a father once. Would it hurt him to have that opportunity again? Did he even want kids again? She tried to hide her fears from him but she couldn’t help but to ask.

“Are you happy?” She asked quietly. His smile broadened into a huge grin.

“You just told me I’m going to be a father again. I couldn’t be happier, Rose. Well I suppose I would be even happier if you were here with me but you know, considering the circumstances.” He smiled and she couldn’t help but smile as well. This was the man she loved. She had just sprung the happiest news on him in the darkest of times and he had accepted it with grace and happiness and love. He had opened his arms to the fact that he was going to be a father. Yet, she could see the tinge of sadness on the edge of his smile. The slight frown to the corners of his mouth that he was trying to hide but she saw anyway because she’d known this body since it’s birth. He knew just as well as she did, better even, that he wouldn’t ever see his child. When this rift closed he wouldn’t know anything else. Would know the child’s gender or be there for their birth, wouldn’t be there to raise the child. And he had accepted that. In the minute they had been talking he had accepted that he would never see her ever again and he was already closing himself off. He was building all those walls from back when he was leather and ears, back when they first met. He built the walls higher and stronger than before. She could see in his eyes the man’s soul dying. And it shredded her down to the core. She didn’t want him to do that. She didn’t care if he traveled with other companions, didn’t care if he fell in love again, but it killed her inside to see him closing off his hearts. She couldn’t help the choked out words, her last desperate plea.

“Am I ever going to see you again?”

“You can't.” Those words coming out of his mouth devastated her. She knew she could never see him again but this was final. He was the most important person in her life and now he was just gone. He had shown her whole worlds, gave her the universe and his hearts. He had given her something to live for, to wake up each day for. She couldn’t image not being able to wake up next to him each morning. Whether he had slept with her that night or not, he was always there when she woke up.

“What're you going to do?”

“Oh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life, last of the Time Lords.”

“On your own.” He briefly nodded.

“I, I love you.” She had to say it one last time. 

“Quite right, too.” His voice choked up as he spoke and Rose nodded with a smile. She knew it was the best she would get from him. He ran away from his feelings in the best of times, and in the worst, well. He was just too afraid of getting hurt to be that vulnerable. And she understood. It was alright that he never told her he loved her in words, he showed her in plenty of other ways. Just the fact that he had projected an image of himself through the rift to say goodbye, the fact he was  _ burning a sun _ was him showing how much he loved her.

“And I suppose, if it's one last chance to say it, Rose Tyler” He faded before he could finish. Rose would forever remember the time the Doctor, the last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm, had almost told her he loved her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where we veer off the beaten path of Doctor Who. A lot of the elements of season 3 will show up but there will obviously be many differences. The most noticeable being in this chapter Donna doesn't appear on the TARDIS and the Doctor doesn't go running off on an adventure without stopping to heal. Don't worry, we will see Donna eventually, just not right now. The Doctor has a few loose ends he needs to check up on.

The Doctor stood in the TARDIS, staring at the space his Rose had been moments before. The tears fell freely from his eyes, the first time he’d let himself cry since the destruction of his home and his people. 

He hadn’t gotten the chance to finish. He hadn’t been able to finally tell her he loved her. And he did. The Doctor loved Rose Tyler with both of his hearts. His entire being revolved around her now, and he didn’t know what he would do now that he could no longer be in her orbit.

His Rose was like a sun. She was warm and golden and beautiful and he was just living in her orbit, surviving off her energy. Now he was a planet with no sun and soon he’d turn to ice.

Of course, she would get stuck in a whole other world while being pregnant. That was his Rose, not willing to give up this life for anything. The universe just loved to torture him with things he couldn’t have. He couldn’t have Rose ever again, he couldn’t have his child, couldn’t have the life Rose undoubtedly wanted.

Every time he thought he could be happy, it was ruined. He was so lucky to have found Rose, to find a human who loved him despite his very large flaws. Then he lost her. He lost her to a parallel world that he could never return to while she was pregnant with their child. It was entirely too much.

The Doctor screamed and slammed his fist into one of the TARDIS’s coral columns. The pain barely registered in his brain, the rage, sadness, and guilt taking up all available space. The lights flared and the TARDIS made a noise in his head that sounded too much like a scolding mother.

If he were to look in a mirror he knew he would see the Oncoming Storm looking back at him. He was mad at the universe for taking his Rose and he was especially mad at the Daleks for surviving everything done to them. If not for the Daleks the Doctor would still have his Rose. 

The Doctor closed his eyes and breathed deep, calming himself. When he was calm again he opened his eyes and placed a gentle hand on the coral.

“Sorry, girl. You know I don’t mean to hurt you.” He sighed and made his way down a hallway and ended up in the kitchen. He absently noticed it was closer to the control room than usual. He took a seat at the table and put his head against the surface.

His thoughts drifted to his pink and yellow human and how much he missed her already. He missed her artificially blonde hair, how it always smelled of roses, ironically.  He missed her little tongue touched smile. He missed holding her as she slept, listening to her heartbeat. He missed how she put her undeniable faith in him no matter what. He just missed  _ Rose. _

A thought hit him and his head shot up. Rose was human which meant there should have been no way that he had gotten her pregnant. Time Lords and humans were incompatible for reproduction. Sure, he was like most human males but Time Lord DNA just didn’t mix with humans the way other species DNA did. He knew Rose would never be unfaithful to him, or lie to him, but he just wanted to know the science behind it. This was purely his curious nature. Well, if he didn’t want to lie to himself it was about more than just his curiosity. 

The Doctor bolted to the infirmary, asking the TARDIS to pull up medical records along the way. He always had the TARDIS scan his companions after adventures on alien planets to ensure their health, so he knew he had Rose’s records on board.

The TARDIS had the records pulled up and waiting when he skidded through the door. He pulled his glasses out to perch on his face as he pulled up Rose’s latest scan. It was from just a few days ago when they had gotten back on the TARDIS after their adventure on Krop Tor. Distantly, he thought about what Rose’s face might be if she saw him with the glasses on hovering over science jargon. Her words, not his. She had told him once that she liked the glasses on him, privately calling them his ‘sexy specs’.

He studied the scans. Everything looked normal but she indeed had been pregnant when the scan had happened. She had been about a month along, certainly far enough that the TARDIS should have told him. In the back of his head he filed away the information that the parallel world was about 2 months ahead of this one.

“Why didn’t you tell me, girl?” He questioned to the ship and she made a tinkling sound in his head, like those chimes the humans so favoured. He got the impression of trust and then a flash of gold light and pleading and undeniable love for him, to his surprise. He made a face in response.

“She asked you not to tell me? Since when are you able to speak to Rose?” A wolf howl erupted in his mind and he startled. The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up more. He looked up at the TARDIS ceiling as if he was looking right at her.

The Doctor didn’t believe in coincidences.

He looked more in depth at the scan, looked at the readings from the fetus. He pulled his hands away from the screen as if he had been burned. He stared in disbelief.

The baby had all the readings of a Gallifreyan. 

The Doctor frantically read through everything on screen and very nearly fainted. The baby was entirely Gallifreyan. No human markers to be seen. 

The TARDIS picked up her song in his mind, becoming louder and occupying more space in his mind than she usually did. She was happy and excited. He got rushing colors; pink excitement, green happiness, blue apprehension, red love, mauve danger, and the brightest of all, shimmering gold. Shimmering gold interwoven with teal blue. The TARDIS’s way of saying ‘Rose and the Doctor’.

Oh he was daft. He was so bloody daft! The TARDIS loved Rose, loved her just as much as she loved him. They were her people, her charges, and he was daft to think she would have given up control in Rose so easily.

Rose had become a goddess when she became Bad Wolf. She had fused herself to the heart of the TARDIS, taken in the entire power of the Time Vortex, and some of the TARDIS herself. 

Rose was still Bad Wolf.

Of course, not to the scale she had been before but there was definitely something still left there.

He brought up Rose’s results and studied them for a moment. Everything was okay it seemed, she wasn’t slowly…. dying. He could hardly even think about the possibilities of what that energy could have done to Rose in the three years she had it inside her. 

The Doctor knew the TARDIS would have alerted him to this if it was an issue, after all the TARDIS was apart of Rose now.

“Nothing’s changed. So why? TARDIS, do you know what I’m missing?” He asked aloud. The screen changed and Rose’s most recent scan results were back, but they were next to her scan results from when she first decided to stay on the TARDIS.

The Doctor stepped back in shock and stumbled, falling on his ass. He felt a faint touch of concern from the TARDIS but ignored her for now. He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t bloody believe it! Oh how brilliant!

“Brilliant! Oh aren’t you brilliant! You’ve done it again, old girl, oh you’ve done it again.” The Doctor popped back up to his feet, praising the TARDIS as he went. He paced as he thought it over.

“Of course I wouldn’t have noticed. I didn’t notice for three years because I woke up in this new body with Rose like that. I didn’t sense her because I was already used to her. She was the first face I saw, I imprinted on her like a baby duckling. I should have noticed how she hasn’t seemed to age at all in the past couple of years. Oh you daft alien. But you, TARDIS, you are brilliant. Oh how brilliant!” He stopped to check a few things on screen again.

“You changed her DNA. Completely rewrote her biology, like the Chameleon Arch. Oh you clever old girl! You made Rose a Gallifreyan! Oh I love you, you big blue box! You brilliant sentient ship!” He felt happiness flow through his bond with the TARDIS along with the shimmering gold intermixed with teal blue again. Then a ticking clock that stopped abruptly.

Rose and the Doctor. Forever.

“A part of you is still inside of Rose’s mind. So she’s still the Bad Wolf. But her DNA has been rewritten, so she’s a Gallifreyan. Oh blimey she’s got enough experience to be a Time Lady by now even by Gallifreyan standards. A goddess and a Time Lady! Oh bloody hell, Rose Tyler, most powerful girl in the history of the universe.”  _ And the owner of my hearts,  _ he added silently. He clapped his hands and smiled brightly. His glasses were stuffed into one of his suit pockets as he raced his way to the console room. 

He had a certain Time Agent to go find.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Rose's perspective. We learn a few things about her and the TARDIS and we learn the baby's gender. Rose has a serious talk with her father and makes up her mind about what she needs to do. 
> 
> I'm hoping to get our lovely main characters back together soon. We'll just have to see where the story takes me while writing.
> 
> If you have name suggestions for the baby all are appreciated.

It had been two months and Rose could feel every second that passed by.

Every miniscule second in the expansive universe that she wasn’t with the Doctor.

And it  _ hurt. _

She knew in the back of her head that it was because of the TARDIS and the connection she had with her. It was stretched farther than it ever had been and she could feel the aching pain. But it was also more than that. It was like that day on the game station all over again. The feeling of being all powerful and seeing  _ time. _ Seeing timelines unfolding and converging and being destroyed and created and rewritten. She was able to hear the TARDIS’s song in her head that day and now it was always playing faintly in the back of her head. She knew from knowledge she had gotten from the TARDIS consciousness that this is what the Doctor felt, the Doctor could see. But it was amplified, stronger.

_ Because you are special, Rose Tyler. You are a Time Lady, and you are Bad Wolf. You have created yourself and you can destroy yourself. You can rip through  _ time  _ if you wanted to. Only you have the power to save them all, Rose Marion Tyler. _

Rose jolted at the sound of the TARDIS’s voice in her head. Even now, even here in a parallel universe she could still hear her. It was comforting but it was also terribly sad. Rose missed that beautiful blue ship that had become her friend and her home over the years.

The words though, they troubled her. What did it mean, she was the only one with the power to save them all? Save who? From what? She directed her questions at the warm spot in the back of her mind that was her bond with the TARDIS.

_ I cannot tell you, Wolf. I can only say I have seen the future and he will need you. This is one timeline he will want to alter but cannot. We are heading to a fixed point, Wolf, and no one can stop it. _

Rose shuddered at the ominous words but knew the TARDIS wouldn’t willingly keep information from her. They were almost one and the same now and she gave Rose access to most of her knowledge.

If what she said was true, though, it meant she would one day see the Doctor again.

Rose looked down at the ultrasound picture in her hands and smiled. That was her son, the Doctor’s son. She wished she could tell him that their baby was a boy. She knew he would be immensely happy.

Maybe she could one day. Maybe Torchwood could get the dimension cannon working and she could go home. Or maybe she could just rip the universe open herself and go home. It wasn’t something she consciously knew she could do, but it was there all the same. A Bad Wolf power, perhaps.

The picture was set aside in favour of picking up her teacup. Rose sighed and took a sip of the warm liquid. She was knackered but couldn’t bring herself to go to her room and sleep. Her dreams were haunted by visions of the Doctor’s face right before her dad saved her, horrors of the Doctor leaving her, and nightmares of losing her child, the last thing she had of him.

And then there were the more realistic visions, ones that didn’t feel so much like dreams.  

_ Possible futures _ , a voice in the back of her mind whispered. This voice was new, it wasn’t the TARDIS but it wasn’t  _ not  _ the TARDIS either. This new voice was Bad Wolf.

It was the same voice she had spoken in during the game station, and it had recently come back. She surfaced when she was needed, or if Rose needed to know something.

And if those dreams  _ were  _ possible futures… god help them all. 

The things she had seen, the things she had  _ done,  _ they were not pleasant in the slightest.

But there were a few that were good. There was a recurring one that only featured her, the Doctor, the TARDIS, and a small child. She instinctively knew the child was her son, the babe that grew in her stomach now, about 5 years old. He had brown hair like both of his parents, his eyes were the same rich chocolate colour as his father’s, and he had Rose’s nose. 

In the vision he was always laughing, nose scrunched and a bright grin on his face. He was a perfect mix of both of his parents and Rose felt unbridled joy in her heart every time she saw him. 

He was laughing at something silly the Doctor was doing, sitting in his lap on the grating of the console room floor. Their son looked up at his father as if the Doctor hung the moon and stars for him. Rose had no doubt that the Doctor would do such a thing for their son if he asked.

Bad Wolf Bay had been, by far, the worst day of her life to date. Losing her bond mate on the same day he found out she was pregnant was rough. Not to mention, she had no clue what was normal for her pregnancy. She wasn’t carrying a human, those she knew plenty about. No, she was carrying a full Gallifreyan child inside her womb and she had no information on whether the baby was growing as he should be. She trusted the TARDIS to let her know if anything went wrong. She had, after all, had many generations of Time Lords within her walls.

Rose wouldn’t trade her son for anything, though. Even if she had the chance to be with the Doctor forever she would choose her son’s safety before her hearts mate. Even if she missed him.

She missed sleeping next to the Doctor. She missed his mad rants and flailing arms when he got worked up over something he found fascinating or disturbing. She missed his spiky hair and how it never quite sat flat on his head. She missed how he almost never landed the TARDIS in the right time but it always led to a great adventure. 

Oh, how she missed the TARDIS. Even if she could still talk to her it wasn’t the same as being able to touch her, see her, live within her walls. The TARDIS had become her friend over the years, just as much alive as the rest of them. She had a feeling the TARDIS had liked her a lot before but had accepted her after she had looked into her heart and wished for nothing but the power to save the one person who meant the world to both of them.

Rose startled when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up and saw her father stood next to her.

“You alright?” He questioned and Rose nodded. She looked down into her cup and took a sip, noticing that the once warm drink was now cold.

“Yeah, just tired.” Rose tried for a convincing smile but by the look on his face, it didn’t quite work. He sat down on the chair across from her and took her hand.

“Honey, I can see that you’re not okay. I know how hard this must be for you, being trapped in a world different from your own while the child growing inside of you is going to be deprived of the second most important person in their life. I know you miss the Doctor but you need to think of your son now.” Pete Tyler was nothing if not the voice of reason. Rose knew he was right, too, but it was so hard to live in this world when she knew there were whole worlds out there to explore. She wanted to explore all the stars with her Doctor and her son. It was the Time Lord Calling, she liked to call it.

“I know that daddy, but I can’t help but miss him. He turned my miserable life as a shop girl into one of amazement and wonder, travel and alien planets. He gave me my son and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I can’t just willingly accept that I have to leave all that behind now.” Rose almost sobbed as she clung to her father’s hand like it could tether her to this moment. He made soft cooing noises to calm her.

“I know, Rose. He was the one. But sometimes, life gives you the right people at the wrong time. You’ll see him again, Rose Tyler. Just keep your chin up and raise your son while you wait.” Rose wiped the tears off her cheeks and sighed. She placed a hand on her bump and rubbed it affectionately.

“I want him to see the stars with his father as I did. It’s practically his birthright. I want him to experience that joy and amazement of all the new people and places. I want him to fall in love with the Doctor as I have. Watching the way he gets excited about new places. His soft smile that only I get to see. His love for adventure despite the fact that things seem to go wrong around every corner. I need him in my life, Dad, and I need him in our son’s life.” Rose was sobbing now, almost curled around her belly as her emotions churned in complete turmoil. She hadn’t yet let herself grieve the life she lost when that rift closed and now it was hitting her hard. The two months she’d been separated from the most important person in the universe, in her opinion. 

Her dad came around the table, scooped her to her feet, and hugged her tightly as she let it all out. He rubbed her back in soothing motions and waited for her to calm down.

Rose couldn’t help but blame herself for the predicament she was in now. It was all her fault. She had grabbed that lever, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to hold on. 

Thing is, she knew the Doctor would have never let her anywhere near the void if he had known about the baby. That’s why she told the TARDIS not to say anything to him about it. She wanted to go on adventures and do fun things for as long as she could get away with them before the Doctor found out and ultimately made her go home. He would never risk her pregnancy in the lifestyle he lived. 

And now she could see why the Doctor never got involved with his companions. It ended in heartbreak, whether by death or separation. The Doctor had already lost so much, he couldn’t bear to lose anyone else close to him. He was probably tearing himself up inside over her.

Rose sniffed and pulled away from her dad, her tears slowly dissipating. She gave him a weak smile and wiped her cheeks.

“Okay. I need to be strong for my son if I can’t be strong for myself. Thank you, dad. I’m going to get some rest now, okay?” He let go of her and gave her a smile.

“Okay, Darling. Let me tuck you in?” He asked, almost shy. Rose smiled and nodded, not wanting to deprive either of them of the father/daughter moments they had both missed in their lives. 

He led her to her room and let her settle under the duvet before sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“I know you feel like this is the worst possible thing that could happen to you, but believe me, it isn’t. Just get some rest and tomorrow will be better.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead. 

Rose gasped and her hand flew to the side of her rounded belly, her eyes lighting up with a gold glow. Pete leaned away from her a bit, concern etched on his face. He just watched her for a moment before her eyes, still glowing, met his and she grinned the biggest smile he had seen her make since being stuck here.

“He kicked. He kicked for the first time! It was just a small flutter but it was definitely a little kick.” Tears formed in her eyes and she laughed. She started murmuring to her belly and rubbing it so Pete took that as his cue to leave, turning the lights off and shutting the door as he went.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doctor’s perspective again. We see our lovely Jack Harkness again and the Doctor meets a few new faces. I don’t know how I feel about this chapter but I felt so bad leaving you guys hanging for so long. I hope this lives up to what you were hoping for. I have started the next chapter and I can’t promise when I’ll get it out to you guys but I will try to do it as soon as possible.

The TARDIS landed softly for once, but the Doctor only took mild notice. He had landed her in Cardiff, 21st century, to let her fuel up while he looked for the one and only Captain Jack Harkness.

It had pained the Doctor to leave him behind on that game station but it had been for his own good. The Doctor was dealing with firstly, his regeneration, and secondly, the unknown side effects that Rose might suffer from taking on the Time Vortex. He didn’t have the time to help Jack figure out his new immortality, not to mention, it would have affected both the Doctor and the TARDIS to have him on board. Jack was a fixed point in time now and it chafed at his Time Lord senses.

Jack exuded  _ wrongness _ . His existence wasn’t natural, he wasn't supposed to be alive. All of his timelines had ended that day on the gamestation. The Doctor had seen them, examined them many times and he knew how Jack ended. But then Rose had shown up glowing and dusted the entire Dalek fleet. She stated that she created herself, brought life, and then brought Jack back.

The Doctor had felt it the moment Jack was alive. He had felt the sharp zing of energy and  _ wrong.  _ And then Jack’s timelines popped up again. But this time he only had three, instead of hundreds of possible futures.

They stretched out for millions of years, but one intertwined with one of Rose’s possible futures and the other was faintly hidden from him, meaning it was intertwined with one of his own possible futures. The third was faint but could be seen clearer than the other one. It was intertwined with one of his futures but it was also intertwined with one of Rose’s.

Stepping out of the TARDIS, the one timeline intertwined with both Rose and himself snapped into sharp focus and he could finally see it crystal clear. 

And that terrified him.

It terrified him because he had never been able to see his own possible futures. The only time he had been able to see his future was that first day he met Rose. He had seen her timeline tangled within his own and had sought her out.

Now, this timeline was intimately entangled with Jack’s, like his own was entangled with Rose’s. Jack was going to be a huge part of his future and the Doctor was a little afraid to admit that pleased him.

The Doctor followed the timeline into a tourist booth, seeing a hidden door in the back.

As soon as he soniced the door open, an alarm went off. He just continued his stroll into the building. A man dressed in boxers and looking thoroughly like he was just woken up stumbled in, gun in hand, a black haired woman with another gun not far behind.

“Who are you? How’d you get in here?” The man spoke first and the Doctor noticed his welsh accent.

“I’m the Doctor, of course. Ask Jack, he can tell you all about me.” The man in question chose that moment to stumble into the room. He was half asleep still and yawned when he saw the Doctor before giving a heavy sigh.

“Doctor, it’s like 1 in the morning. What do you need?” Jack addressed him, only sounding mildly upset. The woman had the good grace to stop aiming her gun at him but the man just spoke over his shoulder to Jack.

“You know him?” Jack sighed.

“Yes, Ianto, I know him. Been in love with him for the past 100 years that he’s left me stranded here.” Ianto turned sharply to Jack and seemed to be at a loss for words. The Doctor on the other hand, felt slightly awkward now. This Ianto was obviously a lover of Jack’s and now here comes the Doctor, who knew and reciprocated at least in part Jack’s feelings, showing up after having left Jack to fend for himself.

It’s not like he did it intentionally though. He had only come to get help in collecting his own lover, and if he was being honest, he wanted Jack to be apart of their family again. He missed having Jack in the TARDIS with him and Rose. 

He could only imagine how Rose would react when she came back and saw that Jack had joined them again. Rose had loved Jack, whether it was at times a familial love and at others it was attraction. The Doctor didn’t mind, Jack was the one person he didn’t resent for catching Rose’s attention, for he had caught his as well.

The Doctor stepped forward with a wave.

“Hello. You’re obviously Ianto, so what is your name, Miss?” He indicated the woman who had been standing quietly to the side this whole time. She smiled.

“Finally. I thought you all had forgotten me during your little love triangle thing. I’m Gwen, nice to meet you, Doctor.” He gave an incline of his head to acknowledge her greeting.

“Now that’s all out of the way, I need your help.” The Doctor looked directly at Jack. He would understand what he was asking for the most once he heard his request. Jack looked surprised.

“The Doctor needing outside help? This must be really important. Especially if you don’t have Rose with you. Where is she anyway?” Jack questioned and the Doctor winced. 

“Can we put the guns away and sit so Jack and I can have a very important conversation?” He looked pointedly at Ianto. He sighed and put the gun down. The Doctor looked to Jack who was concerned now. He beckoned the Doctor to him and pulled him into a hug. 

It had been a long time since anyone had comforted him, the only person recently being Rose. It threw the Doctor for a loop and he wrapped his arms around Jack and gave him all his weight. Jack stumbled slightly under the grown man’s weight but was able to keep them upright. The Doctor pressed his face into the side of Jack’s neck and took comfort in another person’s presence. He trusted Jack almost as much as he trusted his Rose so he knew he was safe in this moment.

Jack spoke soft, comforting words in the Doctor’s ear as he stroked his hair and back, just letting him bask in the much needed affection.

“What’s going on? Is he okay?” Ianto’s voice was heard and the Doctor stiffened. He had let himself show just a little bit of how broken he was inside, having forgotten there were others in the room. He tried to pull away from Jack, to regain his composure in front of these people, but Jack just pulled him back in, not letting him go.

“The Doctor travels with a companion named Rose Tyler. Practically joined at the hip, those two are. Rose and the Doctor never go anywhere without each other, so if the Doctor is here, upset and needing our help with no Rose in sight, then something has happened to her.” Jack explained to Ianto and Gwen and the Doctor was thankful he didn’t have to talk. He marveled at Jack’s deductive skills, how fast he had pieced it all together.

The Doctor tried to pull away from Jack again and this time he let him, placing a kiss on his head as he went. He smiled at him when he could see his face.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Jack questioned quietly. The Doctor nodded his head and gave a small shrug. It was weird to him to be over 900 years old, yet feel like a child again in this moment with Jack.

“How about you come to my room with me and tell me what happened and what I can do for you?” The Doctor stayed silent but nodded. Ianto made a noise of protest that had Jack sending him a fierce glare and Gwen snorted at the hurt expression he received in response.

The Doctor felt slightly guilty for the separation he could see forming between the two, but he was too emotionally exhausted and worn out to care at that moment.

The Doctor followed Jack down a hallway and into a bedroom. Jack sat on the big bed that took up one wall, leaned against the headboard, and patted the space next to him. The Doctor obliged him and settled beside him. Jack looked at him expectantly and he sighed. 

“This is Torchwood Three so I’m assuming you know about Torchwood One at Canary Wharf.” The Doctor started and Jack nodded.

“They were exploiting a hole in the universe, that’s what all those ghosts were. Cybermen trying to get here from the Void. Rose being the clever girl she is, helped me find a way to stop both the Cybermen and the Daleks.” He stopped a moment to think. He missed Rose terribly and it hurt to talk about the moment he had lost her.

He had lived to see the way Rose’s face would light up when she saw the new and exciting things he showed her on other planets and in different times. Even if he had been somewhere a thousand times, it was still wonderful to see it again with Rose, to see things the way she saw them. To find wonder in alien culture, wonder that had not been taught to him as a child on Gallifrey. Wonder that he had taught himself, and learned from the wonderfully curious humans he had met during his lives.

Looking at Jack, he had to just stare for a moment. If not for Rose, this man wouldn’t be sitting next to him right now, wouldn’t be his closest friend. Rose had convinced him to let Jack stay on the TARDIS with them, and Bad Wolf had brought him back when the Daleks killed him. Really, Rose had saved all of them. 

He had been willing to give up in that shop; where he met Rose. Set the charge on that explosive and let it blow him up along with everything else. He wouldn’t have been able to regenerate himself out of that one. 

Then he saw Rose. Beautiful, frightened, pink and yellow, human, Rose Tyler. So he had grabbed her hand and shouted ‘run’. And with that one word his entire life changed. He wanted to explore these new feelings inside him. The Doctor was no stranger to humans or emotions but everything about Rose just made him light up inside, made electricity buzz in his veins. It was how he knew she was the right one. He knew he was in love with her the moment she stepped onto the TARDIS and decided to stay. 

He had decided when she looked at him in those winding hallways under the shop with not fear or anger, but with curiosity that he would keep her. So he switched the time on the explosive to give both him and Rose enough time to get away from the blast.

He couldn’t have stopped his mouth even if he wanted to when he asked Rose to join him. And then she had said ‘no’. Said no with such a serious face. He had been crushed, devastated. So he left, but he couldn’t stay away. He couldn’t stop thinking about her so he went back, convinced her to come with him. It had been minutes, seconds for her but it had been years for him. Years of seeing the universe without that bright young lady by his side. 

It had been the best decision he had ever made in all his lives. Whichever force that looked down on the universe had blessed him with a goddess in human skin.

“Doctor?” Jack questioned quietly and the Doctor snapped back to the present. He gave Jack a sheepish smile.

“Sorry. My memories from before my regeneration have been fuzzy but just now, I was thinking back to when I met Rose. Everything became clear for me again. It was odd to be able to recall my past life with such clarity.” He smiled softly and Jack grinned. He turned serious again after a pause. 

“What happened, Doctor? Obviously something went wrong if you're telling me all this.” He nodded and frowned. 

“I'm still mad at myself for being daft and letting it happen. One moment the Void is open and the next, the lever holding it open had slipped. Before I could even move, Rose grabbed the lever and opened the rift again. But she couldn’t hold on.” The Doctor looked to Jack with red rimmed eyes on the brink of letting tears fall and saw the contained horror on his face.

“Did she?” Jack questioned and the Doctor nodded.

“I had to watch her lose her grip on that damned lever and fall toward the Void. I screamed her name, reached out for her, but there was nothing I could do. Then, at the last second, her father showed up with a device to travel between the worlds while the wall was weak and grabbed her. She’s in the parallel world now and I can’t see her again. I managed to connect to the other world for a moment, a piece of the rift hadn’t closed all the way yet. It opened on Bad Wolf Bay in Norway.” Jack chuckled quietly at that.

“Rose and her mum, dad and Mickey were waiting. And Rose.” The Doctor stopped as he choked on the words. Jack gave him a small smile and squeezed his thigh in comfort.

“Rose told me she’s pregnant. She’s stuck in a different world carrying my child, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m a failure of a Time Lord, bond mate, and father. The child is barely 3 months along and I’ve already failed them.” He fisted his hands and shoved them against his eyes, trying to stop the tears with pain. He felt warm hands on his arms, gently pulling them away from his face. He let his arms fall and looked at Jack’s face. He had a sad smile on his face as he spoke.

“Well, you and Rose together is news. I’m really happy that you guys got there. There isn’t anyone I know that deserves to be happier than you two. And a baby on the way! That’s incredible. How is Rose pregnant, if she’s human?” Jack inquired. The Doctor smiled at Jack’s happiness for them. It was nice to think about the good for a moment. Rose and the Doctor’s relationship really was a long time coming.

“Rose essentially became a goddess when she became Bad Wolf, when she made you immortal. But because it was the Time Vortex power, it was connected to the TARDIS and she got Time Lord DNA. Rose is a hybrid now. A special and unique flower, my Rose is.” The Doctor smiled fondly. 

When he got Rose back he was going to grab her and plant a kiss right on her beautiful pink lips and then never let her go. He knew she wasn’t going to let him control her, and he didn’t want to, but he knew he was going to have to put some small restrictions now on where and when they went. Some of their adventures definitely weren’t child friendly and he wasn’t going to risk his child or his Rose again.

“Wow. I knew Rose was going to be an important girl but I had no clue she was going to be this important.” Jack’s voice went quieter. 

“You don’t have to be the last Time Lord anymore, Doctor. You can have a big family again, of people like you. I know you consider all of us family, but it must feel good to know that you can have the bond and closeness of a telepathic family again.” The Doctor blinked. He hadn’t thought of that.

There could be more Time Lords. Ones that didn’t have the superiority complex his people had. Ones that grew up knowing the importance of every living thing. Oh it brought joy to the Doctor’s hearts to think about having the buzz of telepathic minds around him again. The Doctor jumped to his feet and started to pace.

“Oh, Jack, you have to help me get her back!” He pulled at his hair as he thought.

“If I tried to open a rift to the other world it would collapse all of time so that’s not an option. If I went back in time to make sure she doesn’t go to the other world in the first place it would cause a paradox. Besides, Canary Wharf is a fixed point in time now. Think, Doctor, think!” He rambled as he paced, fisting his hands in his hair when he got frustrated. Jack could see the gears turning in his head. The Doctor grumbled and cursed as he brainstormed, thinking of ideas and possibilities and then discarding them. 

Suddenly, the Doctor whirled to Jack and focused all attention on him.

“You were upset when I first arrived. Was that because the last time we saw each other face to face was when I was still all ears and leather and you kissed me?” The Doctor was intent on keeping eye contact and he saw how it made Jack fidget just slightly.

“All ears and leather?” Jack questioned, stalling. The Doctor smiled in an off handed way.

“Well, Rose’s term to describe my ninth regeneration. It kind of stuck.” The Doctor knew that his face could only be described as sad. 

He knew that Rose missed his ninth regeneration. She fell in love with him when he was Nine. Then he regenerated and became Ten without telling her what was happening. His Rose was so scared, but there wasn’t much he could do in that moment.

Sometimes the Doctor wished he could go back to that day and change history. Of course, he couldn’t, but it was his biggest flaw, to think about what could have beens. He wished he could go back to being Nine and spend more time with his young Rose. 

The Doctor wasn’t afraid of her not loving him now, of not being happy with this regeneration. He knew she loved him, loved this body. He had regenerated into a pretty boy just for her, after all. 

It was more for him. He had just left the Time War when he met Rose. He was not in a good place and that regeneration had only seen bad things. His all ears and leather self had not known love, not known that Rose could love him enough to stay by his side no matter the horrors he created.

Nine had not known he could even think about a future with Rose. Had not known that he would get the opportunity to have children again. Had not known he was capable of loving so fiercely.

Oh how he wished he could go back and tell himself about how brilliant Rose would be in the future, to help him in the dark times like she did for him now.

“She’s not wrong, I suppose. You did have a penchant for wearing that horrid leather jacket.” Jack mused.

“Oi! I liked that jacket. And so did Rose.” The Doctor felt offended on behalf of both Rose and the jacket. Jack smiled and the Doctor cursed him.

“Oh, I liked the leather on you, too. I just like getting a rise out of you. It’s so much better in this body. You’re very expressive.” Jack chuckled with a smirk and the Doctor just stared at him for a moment.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He questioned, almost indignant.

“You make a lot of different faces and you respond to a lot more. And you’re rude! You weren’t rude before.” Jack continues to smile and the Doctor doesn’t know why. What’s so funny about this? He didn’t know. Jack had always been somewhat of a mystery to the Gallifreyan.

“Rude and not ginger. What a predicament. I suppose I should let you find out what else is different about me now.” The Doctor spoke in, what he liked to think was, a seductive tone. Jack’s eyes widened just a bit, thrown off by the Doctor’s blatant flirting. That must have been something that the Doctor was more comfortable with now after his regeneration or it just came with the fact he was in love with Rose Tyler, the biggest flirt of a woman he had ever met. And Jack had met a lot of flirtatious women.


End file.
